Veriscope.



No. 896,814. PATENTBD AUG. 25, 1908. W. H. ELY.

VERISGOPE.

APPLIGATIQN FILED MAY 14; 1908.

able length and any WILLIAM H. ELY,.OF MIDDLETtlWN,TGONNEQ'DIGU'ITQvnmscorn.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. Aug. 25,1908.

Application'fl led. May 14, 1908. Serial No. 432,832.

To all whom it may concern:

citizen of the United States, residing at Middletown, in the county ofMiddlesex and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and usefulVeriscope, is a specification.

This invention relates to a piece of apparatus which is-designed to beused in testing eyesight and in vei'fying lenses selected torectifycorneal refraction in cases'of myopia, presbyopia andastigmatism.

The object of the invention is to produce a simple,.ineXpensiveapparatus that can be readilyemployed by Opticians to instantly provewhether lenses selectedare too. strong, too weak, or are spherically orcylindrically proper to correct the defects of vision f a patient orclient The embodiment of the invention illustrated has a spindle witharest at one end that is adapted to be placed against the chin} of theperson to be examined, a target at'the lines or characters on the nearor accommoother end of the spindle, and an accommodation target locatedon the spindle, intermediate of-the chin rest and the far target, whichtargets are figures, letters or characters suitable for testing vision.The s rotarily h ld by a andle for convenience in the accompanyingdrawings .with the latter approximately in the positions occupied whenthe end of the spindle is resting against the chin of the patient. Fig.3 shows a cross section on the plane indicated by the dotted line onFig. 1 looking in the direction indicated by the arrow.

The spindle 1 is preferably formed of one or more pieces of round rod orwire of suitdesiredmaterial. This spindle is rotarily supported near themiddle of its length 'by a sleeve 2 to whichis secured ahlandle 3 of anysuitable design and materia At one end the spindle is provided with abutton 4 which ,is designed to be placed against the chin of the personwhose eyesight is to be examined. Secured to the end of the s indleopposite the chin rest is a disk 5. his disk, which referably is formedof thin metal, is desirab y held in place by a clamp screw 6, and on theface toward the chin rest of which the following 1 This device providedwith any lines,

indle with these parts is-' of an apparatus thatis preferably secured acard 7 of white paper or other white material, containing suitableradial lines, figures, letters or other charactersdelineated in acontrasting color, usually black. Located onthe spindle between thesupporting sleeve and the far target is a disk 8 preferably formed ofmetal, which disk on the face toward the chin rest is provided with acard 9 of white paper or other white material containing the same radiallines, figures, letters or other characters as are onthe card held bythe far disk. The same lines, figures, letters or characters are printedor marked the same size, color and density on both targets. The spindlemay be ornamented by knobs '10 and may have a section '11 of angu'larcross section between the knobs, if desired. a

is-used by'having the. patient hold it by the handle with the buttonagainst the chin in such manner'that he-can see the lines,figures,"letters or characters upon the upper part of'both of thetargets. If the dationtarget are blacker than the lines on the distanttarget, myopia is indicated. If the'lin'es or characters on the distanttarget appear blacker, presbyopia is indicated.

the lines or characters on bothtargets appear equally black, the focusis between the targets and is normal. If the focusis not normal thenecessary lenses are placed in the trial frame worn by the patient untilthe focus is corrected, that is, is brought between the two targets.Fogging lenses are applied until the lines or characters on the fartarget are blurred and then these lines are brought out by suitablelenses, and if there is astigmatism one of the lines will be brought upto blackness quicker than the others, and this line indicates themeridian of the cylinder necessary to use .to correct the astigmatism.

are being made to prove these steps, and they may be turned around tobring the horizontal and vertical lines of the characters on theunderside to the top for proving the test Any desired lines, letters, beplaced on these with these lines. figures or characters may targets forthe purpose sired tests. And-the targets may be formed by putting thelines or characters in a dark color desirably black upon a lightbackground, desirably white, formed in any suitable manner upon orapplied to the surfaces of the disks which are toward the chin rest,

'The targets may be rotated while these tests of making the dealthou hthe sim lest and preferred way is to print t ese in b ack ink upon'white cards Which'are slipped into recesses in the faces of l thedisks.

' It is not absolutely essential that the lines,

figures, letters or characters on the two targets be identical in formor outline. They "should, howeveiy'be substantially similar in characterand of the same density or blackness. In this arrangement the twotargets are employedas checks against getting .the. 'focus too near ortoo far while trying cylinder lenses. It is necessary in making theproper tests with this instrument in cases of astigmatism, to bring'thefarther focus within' or-nearer to the eye than the remote. target. Thenthe. nearer'or astigmatic-focus is carried out by the applicatlon ofproper lenses until the foci are at an equal distance position of thefoci, due to spasmodic or nerv: 3 0

from-the eye, somewhere-just within the far target and beyond the innertarget, which is as. stated used to make sure that the farther focus is.brought inside of the far target.

This is indicated by the fact that the charac-, .ters. on the neartarget will be somewhat brighter than those on the far. target. Theemployment of the inner target in this manner elinnnates anypossibledoubt as to the ous variations in the sight of the patient. By constantreference to the inner target and the comparison between the inner andouter,-

. the necessary conditions for a perfect test are readily indicated atall times.

With this simple instrument, the scpipe and corneal curvatureof an eyecan'be rea 11y de y termined, and the power and requisite lens can beinstantly determined and quickly- 1 Witnesses:

The invention claimed is.

1. A sight testing apparatus having a spindle provided with a pluralnumber of targets located at a distance from eachother on the spindle,and similar lines, letters or characters of the same color and densityarran ed on the facesoi' the targets, substantial y as specified.

2. A sight testing apparatus having a spindle with'a chin rest at oneend, a target at .the other end, and a" target intermediate of thedistant target and the chinrest, said tarets having on the faces towardthe chin rest ines, letters 'or charactersof the same color,

arran ement and density, substantially as. speci ed. p

,3. A sight, testing apparatus having a spindle, a handle'rotarilyconnected with the spindle between 'the sleeve and thedistant target,said targets having on 'thefaces towardthe chin rest, disks oflightcolor with similar dark lines, letters or characters of the samecolor'and equal density, substantially as specified. i i

WILLIAM. I-IL'IELY.

' Josnrnmn M. STREMPF'ER,

HARRY H. WILLIAMS- other end of-the spindle, and a target on the y

